Noah Yim
Noah Yim reports on the mechanics of national politics, focusing on how legislation, programs and institutions translate into real-world consequences across economic policy, defence, technology and social conflict for The Australian’s Canberra press gallery bureau. His coverage is marked by close attention to the fine print of government decisions, highlighting gaps, incentives and unintended effects rather than just headline announcements. He brings this same scrutiny to cultural and integrity issues, tracking how political choices play out in universities, courts and anti-corruption bodies.
Political reporting rooted in economic policy and tax reform
Yim’s political reporting ranges across central economic debates, from interest rates to tax settings, always anchored in how policy choices affect different constituencies. In coverage of the Reserve Bank’s struggle with inflation, he has examined scenarios in which “interest hikes” and a “higher jobless rate” are explicitly “on table in RBA inflation fight”, spelling out the trade-offs facing decision-makers and households. He has analysed warnings that the “economy is riding on AI” from institutions such as the IMF, framing artificial intelligence as an economic as well as technological priority for governments.
Tax reform is another recurring strand. In reporting on “Teals in two minds on cut to CGT discount”, he has shown how changes to the capital gains tax discount split independent MPs and reshape their positioning on budget measures. His work on a Queensland property developer abandoning plans to deliver affordable housing after government tax changes has traced how the overhaul of the State Facilitated Development program altered incentives for using fast-track pathways, extinguishing the viability of planned projects.
He has also explored arguments that “too many Australians are going to university and driving down productivity”, using enrolment data and labour market outcomes to examine how tertiary education policy intersects with productivity and participation.
Across these stories, Yim generally writes straight news rather than opinion, but his framing highlights who gains and who loses from economic decisions and how political narratives around fairness, productivity and cost of living are built on technical policy design. He connects Treasury measures, regulatory tweaks and institutional choices back to the constituencies - developers, students, independent MPs and workers - who feel their impact.
Defence, energy projects and security oversight
Defence and major projects are another key focus, often approached through procurement, governance and foreign investment questions. In reporting on a “$109m ‘gap’ in Defence contracts”, Yim has scrutinised discrepancies in contract values, raising questions about transparency and accountability in defence spending.
His co-authored story “Foreign cloud over $1bn solar plan” has examined concerns about foreign involvement in a large-scale solar project, tying energy and climate ambitions to national interest and security debates.
He also covers military capability and testing, including missile-related developments, linking technical details of defence technology back to political decisions and budget priorities. This work sits within a broader pattern of tracking how governments balance economic opportunity with security risk - whether in renewable energy projects, defence procurement or foreign participation in critical infrastructure.
Yim’s reporting on the referral of an “unauthorised disclosure” relating to the Ben Roberts-Smith arrest to an anti-corruption body places defence and national security questions within an integrity framework, showing how leaks and information handling can become matters for watchdogs as well as politics.[anchor] His work in this area emphasises process: who controls sensitive information, what safeguards exist, and how institutions respond when those safeguards are tested.[anchor]
Governance, integrity and campus conflicts
Governance and integrity run through Yim’s coverage of political controversies, from anti-corruption referrals to disputes on university campuses.[anchor] In the Roberts-Smith matter, he has followed how allegations of unauthorised disclosure move from political scandal into the remit of anti-corruption authorities, detailing the steps by which formal complaints are lodged and assessed.[anchor] His reporting makes clear that the politics of high-profile cases are inseparable from the procedures and powers of integrity bodies.[anchor]
On campuses, Yim has covered confrontations over antisemitism and protest tactics, including a report on “masked students” who “traumatize veteran Jewish academic”. In that work he tracks how student activism, identity politics and security concerns interact, and how university leadership and government commentators respond to allegations of intimidation. His broader coverage of universities - from productivity debates to campus conflicts - shows institutions as contested political spaces rather than neutral backdrops.
By following stories through universities, watchdogs and parliaments, Yim’s reporting often connects formal governance structures to lived experience: academics facing protests, students navigating policy changes, and public figures dealing with investigations or reputational fallout.[anchor] The emphasis remains on process and consequences rather than rhetoric alone.
Technology, AI and public opinion beyond parliament
Yim’s politics beat extends into technology and public opinion, particularly where they intersect with regulation and national strategy. He has reported on warnings that Australia must treat data centres as national assets to avoid being “left behind by the rest of the globe on AI”, foregrounding infrastructure and regulatory choices as core economic and strategic issues. Earlier work on “What Google knows about me (and you)” has explored the scale of data collection and digital privacy, explaining how online services profile users and what that means for regulation and individual awareness.
Beyond parliamentary reporting, he has written for a foreign policy think tank on diplomacy and public opinion, including co-authored work analysing Lowy Institute polling that found Australians “disappointed in Beijing’s Covid-19 response and despairing about Washington’s”. In those pieces he links survey data to perceptions of major powers, showing how international events reshape domestic attitudes and, ultimately, political space.
Taken together, his technology and foreign policy work complements his Canberra reporting: artificial intelligence as an economic engine, data centres as strategic infrastructure, and global power dynamics as constraints on national decision-making. He treats these themes as political questions in their own right, not just specialist topics.
Across beats, Yim writes tightly focused news stories with a strong orientation to systems - tax regimes, development programs, defence contracts, campus governance, regulatory frameworks and opinion polls. That systems view distinguishes his coverage from generic political reporting that centres only personalities or daily tactics, making him a consistent observer of how rules, institutions and numbers shape Australia’s political landscape.
4 more politics journalists.
Alexander Britton
Alexander Britton is a senior digital editor and political reporter whose work combines political strategy, economic policy and the human impact of major decisions. He covers tax and cost-of-living pressures, central bank forecasts, interest rates, trade risks, parliamentary accountability and social debates. His reporting also examines global crises, including Gaza, with a focus on humanitarian need, aid limits and direct testimony. Britton has written about sport, culture and language, including fans travelling for the Boxing Day Test and Words of the Year. He now works in senior newsroom leadership for a major news group, after digital editorial roles at SBS News. Earlier, he was a political correspondent in the UK. He writes in clear, accessible language, using concrete examples, eyewitness material and direct reporting to connect policy and political conflict to households, businesses and individual lives.
Andi Yu
Andi Yu reports on how politics and legal processes shape social cohesion, public safety and everyday life. She is a journalist and digital producer for ABC News. Her beat spans politics, antisemitism, extremism, multicultural and faith issues, housing, planning, transport, courts, crime, health regulation and inequality. She has covered a royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion, an alleged attack on an Indigenous protest camp, changes to the Suburban Rail Loop, high-rise housing plans, Erin Patterson’s appeal, black-market peptides and culturally tailored midwifery care for First Nations families. She previously reported for the Australian Associated Press and has covered politics, health, crime, refugees and diverse communities. Yu explains complex policy, court and regulatory issues in clear, accessible formats. She connects testimony, evidence and government decisions to their effects on residents, businesses and marginalised communities.
Andrew Bolt
Andrew Bolt is a journalist, columnist and political commentator known for combative conservative analysis across print, online and television. He writes for the Herald Sun, where his national affairs columns and political blog are promoted as driving the news cycle, steering discussion and offering a strong perspective on leadership and cultural conflict. He hosts The Bolt Report on Sky News Australia four nights a week, extending the same opinion-led style to broadcast. Bolt’s core focus is party politics and leadership struggles, using senior figures in government and opposition to argue about values, national interests and ideological direction. He also writes on culture, history, identity and race, including contested narratives about Indigenous identification, and covers populist movements, border control, terrorism and free speech. His work is written as arguments rather than reportage, using direct language, stark framing and sustained campaigns on chosen issues.
Ben Smee
Ben Smee is a public interest reporter whose defining work examines how state power affects justice and vulnerable people. He is Guardian Australia’s Queensland correspondent and senior correspondent, covering Queensland politics, policing, youth crime, domestic and family violence, courts, elections and major policy debates. His investigations into children held in police watch houses exposed institutional failures and won a Walkley Award and Queensland Clarion honours. He also reports on police use of force against vulnerable First Nations people, police culture, victims failed by domestic violence systems, human rights, health policy, electric vehicles, surrogacy and infrastructure spending. His work has appeared across breaking news, features, live blogs and investigative podcasts. A former editor, head of news and political reporter, he combines sustained investigations with daily coverage, returning to institutions and laws to track whether promises of reform produce change.